Monday, October 5, 2015

Day 642: yourself

04.10.15: and there you have it... One final ripoff. This time there is no if or buts about it! A direct swipe of the grandmaster Norman Rockwell. If you are an artist and you don't know who his is, stop calling yourself an artist!

I can't actually believe I made it. Gonna try to not get to carried away here, but it is kind of a big deal for me. A lot has changed over the last 642 days, we've gone on a few vacations, a few family visits at the house, house-extension been completed, new job started, one wedding attended, my daughter (the Boss) starting school, not to mention my son being born. And somehow I got a drawing/sketch done everyday (my wife will gladly tell you have she was in the birthing ward having contractions and I was over in the corner drawing...slight exaggeration of the truth but not only slight...)

And was it worth it? Well, when I started, I was not drawing at all and I hardly had any creative ideas. Since starting I have joined a local "support group" of cartoonists, have had two four-page stories published, another in the pipeline and one I've lettered at the printers as we speak. If you flip through the book (or the blog) you'll find several new characters for my comic, Jon Pay, and I've actually finished one story-outline and started the collaboration of another script. Some sleepless nights, but considering we've had a baby in the house, that was gonna happen anyway. So yes, it was worth it.

I just want to finish off by saying thank you to everybody who've support, encouraged and followed me. There were night I just wanted to throw the book in the bin and go to bed. Without you guys I probably would have. So thank you.

A final small fact that I just like to share. The day I started I actually didn't have any pencils to draw with, so I searched my late father-in-laws study (which has now actually been converted to my studio) and found a few old pencils. One of them specifically caught my eye. It was one he had used (evident by bite-marks) but a long time ago caused the lead had actually hardened. I have since gone through I don't know how many pencils, but this one never seemed to get to small to use.

Most of my rough sketches have been drawn with this pencil, including the last one. It just became part of it and it made it a little special for me.

A last big thank you to my wife (who has featured several times through out the book.) She didn't always understand, and despite not always wanting to, never stopped supporting me. Kind of funny that I finished on our seven years anniversary?!? Thank you so much and happy anniversary.

So for the last time; what were your top five?!? Or your favourite? I know there's a few to choose from (642 to be exact...) but one or two hopefully sticks in your mind. I would love to hear from you.

Anyway, this project is down thank you for taking the time to look at my sketches (and if you're still reading, for still reading...). Hopefully you check out my other blog (which won't be daily) or the Jon Pay Facebook page, both which will show what I'll be working on next.